


Reprise

by Little_Inkstone



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU of 7x04, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-29 20:31:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12638625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Inkstone/pseuds/Little_Inkstone
Summary: Everyone’s time is finite, but Belle burned through hers too quickly compared to everyone else her fate is tied to.





	Reprise

**Author's Note:**

> A fix-it fic for the end of 7x04, Beauty.

Belle smiled at her husband one last time as her eyes slipped closed forever.  He would find her again and then they could truly spend forever together, of that she had no doubt.  With this belief held closely to her heart she slipped from one world to the next as peacefully as possible.  When she opened her eyes again she was somewhere warm and comforting filled with light.  Her joints no longer ached, her body felt lighter than it ever had and joy was bubbling up in her heart.

“Belle.”  A voice called to her.

“Neal!”  She gasped, running to hug her husband’s son as he appeared from the soft whiteness that surrounded them.  “It’s so wonderful to see you!”

“It’s good to see you too.”  He replied, hugging her back and then pulling away.  “But you’re not supposed to be here.”

“What do you mean?”  Belle asked her eyes widening.  Did she have unfinished business?  Certainly there would be no reason to send her to the underworld to work out a regret, she had very few and nothing that could be fixed by spending any time there.

“It’s not your time yet, Belle; you were supposed to live for many more years.”  Neal replied gently.

“I still don’t understand, I lived my life and was very happy.”  She said; then eyed him shrewdly.  “What is this really about, Neal?”  He knew how much she and his Papa loved each other, was he trying to send her back so his father wouldn’t be tempted towards darkness again.

 “I mean it Belle.”  He pulled a book from thin air and opened it seemingly at random.  “Here, look.” Neal pointed to what looked like a timeline of her life along with the lives of everyone she knew.  “This is how long you were supposed to live, this is how your life entangles with everyone else, but because you lived in a world where time moves differently you missed out on a huge chunk of it.”

Belle looked down at the page, catching a glimpse of the future.  Her son’s graduation, watching him get married, holding her grandchild; her friends getting married and having their own children, she was going to miss all of it.  A pang of pain struck her heart as she looked over what she was supposed to be a part of.  She reached out and gently touched some words that took her breath away.  _Second child is born_.  They’d talked about it, of course they had.  Both she and Rumple had wanted more children, not that Gideon wasn’t enough, but they’d left it up to fate and it had never happened.

“I was so happy; I didn’t realize Rumple and I were missing out on anything.”  Belle said sadly.

“I know you were, and you can be again.”  Neal said with a smile as he closed the book.

She nodded and smiled softly.  “Yes, I just have to wait for Rumple and then we can be together.”

“No, I mean, it’s been decided that you’re going to be sent back.”  He told her with a cheerful smile.

“What?”  Belle asked in surprise.  “How will that even work?”

He shrugged and smiled again at her with the same lopsided grin his father had.  Neal didn’t reply beyond that and Belle didn’t have the chance to ask him.  It felt as if she were falling, falling a long way it seemed, but not far at all.  The sensation was not unlike what it used to feel like when Rumple used his magic to transport them around.  Everything around her seemed to grow cold and then hot, dark and then bright.  Suddenly she was lying down, gasping for breath and staring up at a sky awash in an eternal sunset.

Pushing herself up she stood, trying to get her bearings and make sense of everything that had just happened.  Brushing the dirt from her skirt she looked around at where she was.  It was their house, the home they had made, she had come to laying on the ground in front of the place they’d made their happy beginning.  Slowly she walked around the house trying to find any sign of her husband.  She called his name but no one answered her, and when she entered their home it was clear that it had been empty for a long time.  There was a thin layer or dust on everything and several cloths covered their furniture.  With an aching heart she kept looking, even though she knew he wasn’t there, it seemed like he hadn’t been in a long time.  All their pictures were gone, as well as their cup.

“Rumple, where did you go?”  Belle asked the empty rooms.  “How can I find you?”

As expected no one answered her and she had no choice but to leave the home they had spent so many years in.  Outside there was a door standing in the yard, and she recognized it as one of the portals that Rumple had used so they could travel realms.  Nervously she grabbed the handle of the door and pulled, unable to look at what might be on the other side.  She had no magic, the chances of it working were slim to none, but what choice did she have?  Belle doubted that Rumple would be returning to the place she had died any time soon.

Peeking at the door she let out a relieved smile when she realized that on the other side was unfamiliar, yet very familiar, trees.  Without a second look she walked through the portal into the Enchanted Forest, specifically the woods outside of the Dark Castle.  She all but ran the rest of the way to the place where she had first found true love, sure that her Rumple would be there.  She ran through the door calling his and Gideon’s name, but it was just as quiet as their cabin had been.  Stopping short she took a good look at the grand hall of the castle, it wasn’t dusty like their home had been, but it was clearly empty as well.  Letting out a sigh Belle looked around.

Someone had been here recently, the curtains were open and the ash in the fireplace was fresh.  Rumple’s spinning wheel was in the corner just like he had been when she’d first met him, and in the other was the covered mirror.  Three chairs were at the table, one was Rumple’s another was the one she had favoured and the other looked like it was carved to fit their giant of a son, Gideon.  The sight of their chairs together soothed the worry that Belle had felt.  She had thought she’d only been gone for a moment, but the house had been abandoned for quite a while, and she was used to time moving differently in other realms, who knew how long she had really been gone, but here it seemed she would find her family.

Walking over to the tall mirror she pulled the drape off of it to call out to her husband.  His name caught in her throat when she saw herself for the first time.  In bewilderment she pressed a hand to her smooth skin, noting all her wrinkles where gone, she was thin and strong again and her hair had returned to its darker shade from her youth.  She couldn’t help but miss the streak of gray that had first appeared in Gideon’s childhood.  Rumple had loved playing with it, and she had loved it when he had.  Running her hands down her body she took stock of the rest of her.  Her stomach was flat again as if she hadn’t given birth to a healthy son and she frowned, touching more of her body.  All signs of her age had been erased, along with the marks that she had cherished over the years.  She was as young as she had been when she and Rumple had first met, perhaps even a little younger; it had been so many years she could hardly remember.

It had occurred to her that when none of her bones had creaked or ached that she was most likely younger then she had been when her heart had stopped, but this was too young for her taste.  What was wrong with a few grey hairs and a bit of sagging?  Those had been signs of the life she had lived, a life she had loved living, and now they were gone.  What would Rumple and Gideon think when they saw her?  A smile pulled at her lips, no doubt they’d be just happy that she was back, no matter what she looked like.  She was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of distant rumbling of thunder, but the light streaking through the window was still bright and cheerful.  Frowning she took a step away from the mirror, only for the front door to slam open.  She jumped at the sound her heart racing with surprise, and then she saw who was at the door and her heart began to race for a different reason.

“Rumple.”  She whispered, any sound beyond a sigh too much for her at the moment.

He was with their son, the two of them as hearty and hale as they had been last she’d seen them; but they also looked troubled.  Their steps were hurried as Rumple spoke quickly to Gideon, telling him how to do something magical and finicky.

“There’s little time, Gid.”  Rumple said, his thumb and forefinger rubbing together.  “You know what to do?”

“Yes Papa, but…”  He stopped and looked at her, his eyes widening.

Belle smiled at her son and took a step towards him but stopped when she saw the look on his face.  He looked as if he were about to get sick or cry and she looked down at herself again to make sure the mirror hadn’t lied to her.  Perhaps she looked like a walking corpse, in which case she didn’t want to scar her baby boy any more.  But to her eyes she still looked herself, young and healthy and whole.  Gideon was pointing at her once she looked back up and Rumple had turned to look at her as well.  She smiled hopefully at him and his mouth thinned.

“There’s no time, Gideon, go do as I told you, I will handle this.”  He said, his eyes never leaving hers.

“Okay, Papa.”  Gideon said casting one last look at Belle, before the sound of thunder filled the air again and he was running towards the tower where Rumple had kept his magical items when they’d lived there.

“Hey,”  Belle said, walking towards him.  She couldn’t think of anything else to say, he still took her breath away.

“Whatever trick you’re playing at won’t work, dearie.”  He snarled.  Rumple strode forward until he loomed over her, his eyes dark and dangerous.

“It’s not a trick, it’s me Rumple!”  She said excitedly, reaching out for him.  “I came back, just as I always have!”

His eyes narrowed and he grasped her hands by the wrist before she could touch him.  “How dare you.”  He hissed out between his teeth.  “My wife is gone, I held her as she died and you would think to use her image against me?  Who are you, who sent you?!”  Rumple demanded, his teeth beard in anger.

“No, Rumple, it’s not like that.  It really is me, it really is Belle.  When I died I met Neal and he–”  She couldn’t say more, his hands tightening around her wrists.

“And now you invoke my first son’s name?  Have you come simple to make me suffer, or did you foolishly think invoking the dead would make me fall at your feet?”  The sound of thunder was growing louder and closer as he yelled at her, grief clear in his eyes.

“Please, Rumple!  Why won’t you believe me?”  Belle begged, her voice having to rise over the noise of the gale that had picked up outside.  It was beginning to sound like freight train from the Land Without Magic.

“Because you’re dead!  And you’re never coming back!”  Rumple sobbed, his mask of anger cracking to reveal the heartbreak underneath.

“Rumple…”  She didn’t get to finish, instead the walls seemed to break apart around them as they were surrounded by a thick cloud of magic.

“The curse, it’s here sooner than I thought.”  Rumple said, letting go of her to take a step back.

“Curse?  What’s going on?  Rumple, what about Gideon?”  Belle tried to yell over the rushing wind, but her words along with his reply were swept away by the howling wind.

The curse cloud washed over them, surrounding them and washing them away from the Dark Castle.  With the tidal wave of magic their memories were suppressed and replaced by identities and personas that would make them miserable in their new home.  The last thing Belle saw before the world went dark and silent was her husband’s face as he closed his eyes in resigned sorrow.

0o0o0

The blaring of the alarm was too loud so early in the morning of that Gabrielle Bête was sure.  She reached out her hand and sleepily wacked her clock in a clumsy attempt to make it be quiet, but all she managed to do was cause the thing to fall off her nightstand.  Groaning, Gabrielle, or Belle to her friends, if she had any, sat up and properly shut off the loud annoyance and got out of bed.  She’d been dreaming of the man with sad eyes again.  He always looked at her like she was breaking his heart but every time she felt like she got close enough to comfort him she woke up instead.  Once her eyes opened everything began to grow foggy, all she could remember was his eyes.  She could never forget them.

Letting out a sigh she dried herself off from her shower and tied her hair back in a tight knot.  It didn’t matter, he was just a dream and there was nothing she could do for a dream man, no matter how sad he was.  Instead she had her own problems to worry about, like getting to her office on time.  The accounts wouldn’t balance themselves and the numbers wouldn’t line up if she didn’t make them.  Pulling at the bottom of her pencil skit she slipped into her modest heels and left her dingy apartment behind.

Belle hardly paid attention to anyone as she rushed along the street to her job.  The only thing that slowed her down was when her shoulder hit that of a man in a tacky jean jacket.  He was only slightly taller than her with shaggy brown hair that was greying.  She couldn’t help but admit that he was rather handsome, but it didn’t excuse his bad attitude.  They shared a glare and a few snippy words about watching where the other was going.  Then she was back to rushing to her job, all thoughts of scruffy men with familiar brown eyes forgotten.


End file.
